South America is the best. The variety of the terrain, the diversity of the cultures, the amazing changes of climate and scenery in a short hour drive. Impressive! All of it. But Colombia’s got something the other countries don’t have. Pretty much everything in one sweet little spot. This big equatorial country straddles Central and South America and gives you both a Pacific Coast and a Caribbean Coast, a shared rain forest to the south with Peru and Brazil, the Andes Mountains, and a border with still-developing Ecuador and trouble-ridden Venezuela. Really, you can pretty much get anything you want here.
Don’t like the heat? Go to the mountains. The weather there is variable and you can experience four seasons in one day, every day. Want to get your beach on? You’ve got options to the north, the northeast and the northwest. Need some time away from the cities? Catch a bus from any major terminal and within 30 minutes you’re in the countryside. Looking for some culture? Bogota’s got it all.
In fact, some of the best reasons to visit Colombia are the:
Rockin’ Awesome Coffee: Oh. My. God. Juan Valdez is my new hero, all serving up his piping hot, freshly made, wicked awesome brews of coffee in mild, medium and super strong. Organic or not, with whipped cream on top or not, with a side of Andean rice pudding, a local favorite, or not. It’s all up to you and, after being in a good coffee dearth for more than a year, I am ever so grateful for a good cup of Joe. Every. Single. Morning. Yes! What a great way to start the day.
Breathtakingly Beautiful Flowers: The flowers are sprouting up all over the place. In front of your apartment complex. Next to the garbage can down the street. In the cracks in the sidewalk. Colombia doesn’t know what a weed looks like. All it has is super gorgeous flowers that are so popular that the mountain city of Medellín dedicates an entire week to a flower festival with flower-covered floats and musical events set on stages bedecked with flowers. And giant flower gardens that sport every type of flower that grows in the country.
Super Hot Dancing Dudes: They can so bust out the serious moves here too. The dudes here are so smooth and hot that they blast all other hot dancing dudes around the world right out of the water. The way they swing their hips, the way their whole bodies pick up the beat and roll with it, they way they can swing a partner around the dance floor. Oh, yeah, it’s time to get my dance on. Woot! Woot!
Sweet Sounds of Colombian Reggaetone: It’s sort of like rap. Only with a beachy twist to it. All with the drums beats, the dancing chics in their tropical shirts, and the singer dude all with his seashell necklace hanging off his neck and his hemp bracelets adorning his wrists. A single song transports you right to the beach … in your head! And if you could go to a live performance right on the beach, it would be surreal. Yep. It’s on the list.
Lush, Beckoning Mountaintops: The mountains here are impressive, all adorned in lush green foliage, big trees, leafy bushes and trails that beckon you. They’re still the Andes, only it’s more like the Andes light. Sure, they’re still tall. Sure, they still take your breath away with their immensely high altitudes. It’s just that they’re a little shorter, a little prettier and a little easier to access. And it’s never so hot and dry you feel like the saliva is being dried right out of your mouth even before it starts forming in the first place, like it was in Peru.
But, actually, the number one reason to come down to Colombia is to find out that it is nothing like what the news around the world says. It’s so much better. So what are you waiting for? 
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If you liked that jazz, you should check out these beauties:
Totally Righteous Tales of Digestive Disorders, Aesthetic Assaults and Near-Death Experiences in the Far, Far East (Non-Fiction, Book) is a book about finding yourself in a land that sports:
– mirror-obsessed Korean dudes intent on checking out their own butts as much as possible,
– hairstylists in hot pants and go-go boots who want to sculpt your hair into an orange, Carol-Brady-esque shag, and
– tai chi masters who slip you poison – for your own good.And those are just a few highlights of your far, far eastern adventure – a journey that Totally Righteous Tales gently walks you through with hilarious stories of digestive disasters – hello, the food in Korea? It actually hates you; aesthetic assaults – yeah, that orange hair? Not so down with the hip crowd these days; and near-death experiences – because nothing gets the adrenals going like almost dying at the hands of your local cab driver. On a daily basis.
and
A Tale of the Romantic Disaster Sort: A Short Story (Fiction, Short Story)
A super short story about the perils of dating a dog-obsessed dude who boots you out of bed during an intimate moment so he can play ball with man’s best friend. And then he wonders why you leave.
Coolness. Catch you on the flip side, sweetie!
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© Sasha A. Rae. All Rights Reserved.
Photo (Flower) @ 2011 Luz A. Villa, Flckr, *L*u*z*A*
Photo (Mountains) @ 2011 Pedro Szekely, Flckr, szeke
